I visited with Shandelle and Peter in an empty lot in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where they plan to start a garden for the neighbourhood. Peter, who works at the Portland Hotel, part of the PHS Community Services Society, describes who lives in the buildings surrounding the garden. Shandelle is excited by the food growing potential of the lot and how it can help the people she works with.

This area along Hastings Street has become notorious for poverty and drug abuse in Vancouver, our beautiful and wealthy city soon to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Films: ‘Through a Blue Lens’ and ‘Beyond The Blue Lens – Tears For April’ by the Odd Squad.

Lost In Transition – Mental Health Report by the Vancouver Police Department.

Mike Clark of Onni called me a couple of weeks ago looking for a group to manage a new community garden his company had built on their property in downtown Vancouver. Now, this is a one of a kind story — a developer makes available gardens on vacant land until such time as that land is ready for building construction to begin. How often have we seen empty lots sit vacant for years while nothing happens. A City Farmer video.

Link to City Farmer TV.